LET'S MAKE THINGS HARDER!

High-scoring words of the day so far:

AVOIDS (120 points) - against Rob S. [5W, 2W]
AFOOT (100 points) - against Alice P. [4W, 4L on F]


Last night, I talked to Jamie / Eric / Corey about Facebook features, fish in dreams, stuff we didn't know about each other, whether XI was a word (it's valid in the dictionary - I remember the CONFETTO debacle well! :P) making things harder, commenting, depriving the doctor of lunch at McDonalds, and more. Pretty cool, all in all.


Writer's Block: Clothing Options
When it comes to clothes, would you rather be comfortable or fashionable?

Comfortable! I'm not a "fashion" / "slave to the trends" type of person! :P
View other answers.

We don't have to stay in the parkade forever, Ian!

High-scoring words of the night so far:

JETES (234 points; two 3W, 2L on J), FARINA (160 points; two 4W) - against Christina C.
BUDGETS (205 points) - against Leeanne K. [5W, 2W, hook on EURO to make BO]

Interesting rack of the night: NAYTUXES (against Tammy S.)


Henry picked me up before 3:30, and we were off with Chuck Swindoll and Daniel for accompaniment. The parkade was open, so we used that. Saw an assortment of snacks, but Auntie Vivian went out to buy $100 more: yay, butterfly pastries! Said hi to Tim, Maxine, and the other parents - Keenan was so cute, haha. Was actually kept a bit busy by William, Eric, Andrew, Danny, Chris, and other people - we wondered why Lanie had an umbrella and was wearing a garbage man. Henry answered that one: Emily was telling the kids about Noah and the Flood, but he wanted her to spice it up a bit by referencing blood up to horses' bridles for 200 miles! I don't know if that's appropriate for kids... then again, he was trying to guilt me into buying more raffle tickets. Nah, I did it last week - ask my brother yourself! (he tried getting Zoe to buy some even though she's only 11: she'd go to the mall with $1000, we're sure!) He told us that Eric had no heart and was like the Grinch since HE wouldn't buy any, either! Haha, oh dear. (Chris put an arm around me while asking if we had something - I actually have no idea! I have to invite his mom Fonda to Facebook, so I'll do it now while I remember!)

William, Zoe, Sarah, Henry, Emily, Tina, and I all spent time around the chips talking about Pogs / Polly Pocket / hula-hoops being banned in Japan / chewing gum being gross and spreading disease / clothes not lasting / buying things which are an investment / Chinese New Year themes / Ox. I spent time talking to Tim and Maxine about Jon getting married, and Steph's new job. Interacted with Olivia, her cousin Ian, Joshua, and Keenan: they're so cute, and understand what you're saying now! I had grapes, Lays BBQ chips (SO GOOD!), three of the aforementioned butterfly pastries (I never have them!), Rice Krispie Squares, two bottles of water, and some other stuff. Gotta see if Henry can give me a ride home next week due to Ada's Chinese New Year dinner - they made reservations ALREADY?! Whoa. There were these two new kids with a last name very similar to white Eric's: Hunter and Spencer, and the I is replaced with an E. Oh dear.

Ian, on staying at the church longer than expected: "Mommy, are we going to stay here forever?"
Ian, on his brother Sean: "Hannah said I should put lipstick on him! But I think I'll eat his head off instead."
Ian, on the parkade being closed: "Will we have to live here forever?" (luckily for us, there was a sensor which activated when we were near the door!)

Dreams of gluing goldfish and Pete Tong / Enemas!

Bingo of the day so far:

CORRASION (72 points) - against Leeanne K.


High-scoring words of the day so far:

VEENA (100 points) - against Matthew F. [5W, 2W]
UNSOCIAL (125 points) - against Kelly T. [5W]
FORCE (140 points) - against Chelsea V. [5W, 2W]

Interesting rack of the day: LIUSCOIN (against Kelly T. - read that as "Liu's coin")


I had a weird dream which involved my logging into a message board, and finding out that Candy was going to visit Burnaby. She let us know through colorful photos featuring an adorable little girl on a swing set. Since that was near where I was, I insisted that she keep me up to date on things as they progressed. Her husband George was going to be working in a thrift shop with blue curtains and blue drapes for the tables, so he let me know that I was welcome there anytime.

As the date approached, Erin wanted me to do a personal favor for her, and appear in pictures. That I could do, so off I went to her house. My parents said they had a few goldfish for me, but they wanted me to super-glue one of them to a piece of construction paper for the picture first. Understandably, I was concerned because the fish might not LIVE - even if those variety of goldfish didn't live very long anyhow. (think the ones that kids get as prizes at fairs, in plastic bags)

My premonition proved right: after the series of photos were taken, the goldfish's eyes had popped out and it was rigid in its position on the paper... and this wasn't just because of the glue! I somehow wanted it to live, but knew it wasn't possible. My dad at last responded to the pleading desperation given to him by almost everyone around: he took the goldfish away, put it in VERY hot water, and it was a miracle! The fish was alive again! Erin and I promptly took everything over to the thrift shop, where IT'S ALL GONE NOW PETE TONG was playing on the overhead TV. We actually got to MEET Pete Tong as well, which was an added bonus. Candy and George were very impressed, and that's where the dream ended. Interesting!


Poo nugget for this weekend: Enemas - The act of instilling substances (usually water) into the rectum has been around for centuries. Historically known as "clysters," enemas were the preferred treatment of the bourgeoisie for a wide variety of gastrointestinal ailments. The medical history books are filled with examples of unusual uses and types of enemas. Lest you think that these practices were a thing of the past... enemas consisting of coffee, alcohol, and even milk and honey are used today. They are believed to have beneficial effects on colonic health.

I remember reading about enemas recently - certainly very fascinating! :D

We finally dented the church! / Asperger's guy and showers

High-scoring words of the night so far:

GAYDAR (180 points) - against Sara H. [3W, 5W]
SORTING (370 points) - against Kelly T. [two 5W, hook off RAFT to make GRAFT]

Interesting rack of the night: RIMLEONS, against Mary Lou B. (Rim Leons? Oh my, how naughty!)


Steph and Eric picked me up in the Subaru, and apparently they were discussing the seat-warmers before I got into the car. That has got to be the best feature ever, haha! Discussed a PLANET EARTH puzzle, a Mom package, Regina, Mom's grasp of English (like the "kiss and make out!" story), the parkade (they CANNOT play the "senior" card with me! :P), hockey, Jon's status update, alcohol, the location of Mike's house, the fog, and other stuff on the way over to church. Grace accidentally dented a church pole with a chair, so we joked that we could relax about being stringently anal when it came to that kind of thing! (and it was even better that a pastor's wife did it, haha!) Board games night went fine (Jenga, Settlers, Risk, Spoons, Scrabble, the Game of Life, Taboo, two versions of Cranium, Clue, dominoes, etc.) - I played Apples to Apples with Lesley, Christon, Kevin, and Steph. My sister and I were discussing Grace Kelly's death when Kevin reminded us that we had to pay attention to the game - not too often we get to have morbid discussions, dude! Learned that my sister hates poodles of any sort, heh.

Later, we each shared an important thing which happened in 2008 - we're just glad it's over now, basically. Connie told me something about needing a break, which I can understand. Danielle and Steph wanted to talk about Citrus, but were thwarted - "I'm tired!" won't really be an excuse when he gets back, haha. We admired the tiny peeled mandarin oranges, and ate a lot of crackers and cheese. Raymond asked if I'd made a Wordscraper move yet... I wasn't sure, but I have just made one now! I still beat him by a bunch of points on the STANDARD board, yikes! Everyone spent time talking about 24 - all Raymond has to do is catch up on the Sunday episodes, and he'll be FINE! Next time we have a 24 party, he'd better be there! (especially since he said he would if it was at Nate's) Johnny was going to download the Battlestar Galactica episodes tonight, but the girls wanted him to wait a couple of days until the guys watch it and Arrested Development at Nathan's. (I don't know if I'll be there... but the latter show sounds HILARIOUS!)

Richie touched me on the arm when he said hi, which I didn't mind. Jeremy was laughing about his latest idea: they have synchronized swimming, so why not extend that to all sports? The synchronized horse racing might be something to see! Eric wanted me to come clean about something, so I told him that I became clean a few hours ago when I took a shower! Of course I know that's not what he meant, but it's always good to have a little fun with your friends even if they're used to your somewhat abrupt manner!

Vanessa was very surprised to hear Jon has Facebook now: "That does NOT compute!" Discussed various aspects of the church building, making sushi, Stanley's week, my offer of dinner to Andrea, alternative crazy wedding scenarios (the Garden of Eden pre-Fall! lots of naked people but for fig leaves!), togas, both parents walking someone down the aisle, tracksuits at a wedding, and the snowbanks in Mike's neighborhood. We tried giving Harmony good ideas on the way home (Wreck Beach!) as future (almost-)relatives, but she wasn't convinced. It was a good night, however!

Yay. Redrum has JUST started. Right now, Corey and I are discussing this Asperger's guy:

[23:57:59] Flami: the hamsterette: that reminds me of when someone told me that using "yer" on the Internet was like Ebola :P
[00:18:56] Flami: but then, he had Asperger's
[00:19:40] Corey: assburgers
[00:19:51] Corey: and he probably didn't since tons of people online say they have that and most don't
[00:20:16] Corey: and real people that have that are barely functional :P see: Sonichu
[00:20:35] Flami: yeah, that's true... who's that?
[00:22:36] Corey: Here you go.
[00:23:11] Flami: no redirect? is that a bad thing?
[00:23:41] Corey: I have no idea! that's what came up on Google
[00:24:01] Flami: the page is a link... oh my
[00:25:15] Corey: oh :P well, click that link... the link is the right one :P
[00:25:59] Flami: I did
[00:26:36] Corey: he draws all these comics, and 4chan likes to torture him
[00:26:49] Corey: he also stalks women or something
[00:27:22] Flami: that's what I'm gathering from this article.
[00:27:40] Corey: it looks like a lot of the stuff on there was removed...
[00:28:34] Flami: the article is being considered for deletion
[00:28:46] Corey: there used to be a whole bunch of stuff, like when they got him to take naked pictures of himself (by claiming to be female) and someone got him to mail his prized Sonichu necklace thing to him, which he then made a new copy of to deny sending it in the first place, so there was a detailed comparison of the new vs. old ones or something
[00:29:58] Flami: haha, oh dear.
[00:30:31] Corey: and looking over this, it looks like he's been deleting stuff from the article himself
[00:30:53] Flami: what?!
[00:32:55] Corey: ulillilila or however many lililililil things are in the middle is similar, with mental issues, but people don't tease him much since he's crazy in good ways, like exploring video games to the extent of knowing how many pixels are in everything and finding every bug in every game.. he has Youtube videos about all of that stuff, and is making a game, and is really into whatever it is he does...
[00:33:50] Corey: his website is insane, trying to explain what goes on in his head :P
[00:36:22] Corey: actually sometimes people do harass him, but then he makes a post on his website about it, wondering what the purpose of that phone call was, because he didn't understand it. he understands everything they say, but doesn't really get it :P he's a complete genius, but knows very little about people
[00:38:26] Flami: well, I guess that's similar to what I hear about Asperger's
[00:38:40] Corey: his Youtube videos about Bubsy 3D (which is like the worst game ever made, yet he's played it for literally months on end) and Sonic the Hedgehog that have voice narration are great
[00:39:30] Corey: this guy listens to music.. the same song.. on repeat for months at a time, almost always video game music. to change it up, he'll use an audio editing program to raise or lower the speed or pitch of the entire song slightly, then listen to that version for months :P
[00:40:53] Flami: oh my. even I am not that obsessive.
[00:41:31] Corey: yeah, you're a mere shadow of Ulillillia, you poser
[00:42:13] Flami: as if... I've never heard of it before now.
[00:45:10] Corey: he has a video on there now of "freeway travel" on his first vacation in 8.1 years (which seems to be because he doesn't believe in showering because he has a huge crazy formula about how that wastes water and costs his parents too much money) so his parents don't like to take him places :P
[00:45:50] Corey: he's also afraid of mirrors, I think... like, before going to a store, he'll need to map it out and plot courses that will avoid mirrors
[00:46:43] Corey: aaand.. this video seems to be nothing but ten minutes of the side of the road moving by.. and his Youtube commentary has a bunch of stuff about each mile they went past during this video and what they passed and when you'd see each mile marker :P
[00:50:25] Flami: he doesn't believe in showering?! oh dear me.
[00:51:29] Corey: "ulillillia (3 weeks ago)
The one thing that helps more than anything in this game is pausing to eliminate human limitations such as reaction time (from 280 ms to about 50 ms) and timing precision (from about 20-25 ms to just 4 ms). For starters, use pausing to help you."
[00:52:11] Corey: that's a pretty tame reply by him :P usually, he'd say something about moving three pixels per ms or something too...
[00:52:19] Corey: and yes, he has a whole section about the showering thing
[00:53:16] Corey: he thinks his parents' water bill will be extremely high if he showers regularly, and explaining it to him doesn't work because he's worked it all out already... he has like a six-page explanation explaining why it needs to be that way, but essentially it's because he doesn't want to take a shower :P
[00:53:54] Corey: he says he showers like once a month, or at least every couple weeks .... but he has this whole theory about all of it, like everything else in his life :P
[01:03:07] Flami: oh dear... I need to read that for myself... link?
[01:03:21] Corey: I have no idea, somewhere on his site..
[01:03:34] Corey: there was an SA thread about him a while back
[01:05:04] Flami: haha, go find it please.
[01:05:30] Corey: it's probably in archives by now, which you can't get to without an archives account
[01:05:47] Flami: I thought you had one of those!
[01:06:51] Corey: that's not it, but it's people in Your Console Sucks (which is a bunch of weirdos) talking about him, so maybe something will link to it in there, I don't know
[01:07:41] Flami: the hamsterette: Hahaha, okay... last time I tried to access something on Something Awful, I got told something about an archives account.
[01:07:44] Corey: that's all I see
[01:08:00] Corey: archives is extra money
[01:12:43] Corey: goldmined stuff though (stuff deemed really good) doesn't need archive access. archives is EVERYTHING
[01:13:17] Flami: makes sense
[01:29:01] Flami: found it... just CONTROL-F "showers"
[01:29:23] Corey: I think I have his 25-hour, 40-minute sleep cycle problem :P
[01:33:45] Flami: still reading the shower bit
[01:33:48] Corey: okay, it's not six pages, but it's about 900 times longer than any explanation of shower habits needs to be :P
[01:34:47] Flami: yeah... especially his explanation of moving the knob not even an inch :P
[01:35:46] Flami: he warms up his body wash and shampoo before he uses them?! What the.
[01:36:33] Corey: oh, the six-page thing was an email reply to someone explaining that it wasn't going to cost his parents too much money to take showers, or something like that. this is the short version on his website :P
[01:37:44] Corey: email him and ask about it, he might write a book on the subject for you complete with formulas. you might even be able to ask him for a graph, but instead he might write a page or so about graphs being inefficient or something :P
[01:38:51] Flami: yeah, maybe he would.... but I dunno.
[01:44:36] Corey: he seems to reply to most things
[01:44:49] Corey: I've never emailed him, but a bunch of people did
[01:46:14] Flami: wait a minute... he has calculations on how much a job and such would affect him?!
[01:47:47] Corey: he has statistics and calculations for EVERYTHING
[01:48:44] Flami: that's what I'm getting from this...
[01:50:33] Corey: he has explanations of his whole system there somewhere

I don't mind going out with you!

Went around with David to look at rugs, glasses, and other homey things at Home Outfitters / Zellers / Home Sense in Lansdowne Mall. Made me think of the time I was around there to check out Winners - also on a Friday - with Yazmine (and saw Maxine with her niece Lauren) in 2003! Saw various things (and for Valentine's Day / Chinese New Year - the candy hearts made me think of last year!), but nothing really inspired him. I did check out his couch, however: it's pretty good and dark, since the guys from Furniture Spot delivered it up the stairs for him! I saw a silver rug AND a silver cushion at Home Outfitters - definitely not his taste, heh. Also saw an Alcohol Tester - talked about the snow, holidays, staying home, Facebook, heavy dishes, light and thin Corelle dishes, modern rugs, and other things. Maybe he'll let me know when he wants to go grocery shopping for the new place once he gets the Internet hooked up! (I definitely didn't mind keeping him company AT ALL!)

Got home to discover that Shannon had added me to Facebook, and a weird phone call from Michigan: 1-269-768-2351, anyone? At least I have some downtime prior to going out tonight!

Dream of brushing too hard and sharks at a haunted church castle

High-scoring word of the day so far:

ELATIVE (108 points) - against Margaret E. [4W; hook off BRIG to make ER, LIT, and AGO]


This thing just restarted - UGH! Sister called to say she'd be driving tonight - sounds fine to me. I also need to do something important which I've been putting off... and for once, it isn't because of a money deficit! Hmm. *thinks* At least Diane S. (the_fuzzy_bunny) added me on Facebook! Speaking of such, my brother says someone just called him, thinking he was selling pot! HAHAHAHAHA! OH MY!

I had a dream last night where the events were apparently going back in time, while being somewhat recursive. It was very weird, even for my subconscious! Started out with my being with a bunch of people, including Raymond. We were all brushing our teeth, but some of us were doing it a little TOO hard. This was evident because the blood was gushing all over the floor! After we expressed horror and comforted each other, we somehow were transported a few years back in time to a high school cafeteria. We started eating and having a good time when my brother called Brandi on her cell phone. She relayed his message to us: he had left some important documents at a local haunted church castle, couldn't go back to get them himself since he was teaching, and wanted us to retrieve them! Somehow, we knew that he was putting us into danger, and refused. Apparently, he was quite adamant - finally, we resigned ourselves to going after people said they'd protect me and each other.

Once we got to the haunted church castle (going back in time another few years), we saw skeletons and ghosts come out to greet us. People protected each other, but I was brave and asked what they wanted. (despite Raymond trying to pull me back) They wanted us to know that they were supreme beings on this territory: we knew that, but we still had to get those documents! We were finally let inside, and were confronted by a LOT of black-and-white animated plush sharks / orcas / dolphins with REALLY pink mouths and sharp white teeth! Eric said that he knew a guy in one of the study carrels surrounding the area.

After some consultation, Kevin agreed to help us, but first he had to regress to an earlier age while still staying in the present. Next thing we knew, we saw this white kid with sandy hair - he assured us that he was Young Kevin, and would fight the sharks for us in their domain. A number of us (including Dianne) got swallowed up / bitten by these otherworldly creatures, but were ultimately regurgitated. Eric had to pull me free of one of them by the hand, over a few study carrels! The dream ended when we were fighting the sharks before getting the document... weird! No idea what triggered it!

Hooligans and poverty!

High-scoring words of the night so far:

HOOLIGAN (152 points) - against Angela V. [4W] {this reminds me of the Jolly Hooligan 8.5% beer - which looked almost like wine - at the Yaletown Brewery!}
PHALLI (104 points) - against Muriel M. [4W, 2W]
CLINCH (120 points) - against Becky O. [three 2W]
FLORID (208 points) - against Alice P. [two 4W]
AZOIC (152 points) - against Angie S. [2W, 4W] {handy deficit-erasing word!}

Interesting racks of the night: RIDLUANF (against Alice P. - read that as "rid Luan F."... of what? haha), JODIMASE (against Leeanne K. - who remembers Mase the rapper?), BOXGENIE (against Tiffany C.)

New record of this 24-hour period: Nine interesting racks!

Too bad the latest Blogthings quiz is bogus, since there's only one possible result... that of being a total procrastinator! *junks stupid quiz*

Here's the blurb from my newest Ben and Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie ice cream acquisition: "Things to do by 2015: End poverty. Help make the 8. We're proud to support the Millennium Development Goals, an 8-Goal roadmap to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger, and disease. World leaders, including your own, have agreed to achieve these Goals by 2015. Remind them to do it! Things to Do Today: Stand up and take action! Learn more here."


Poo nugget for Friday, January 16: Doo You Know? The Genesis of "Poop" - According to Eric Partridge in his book Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, "poop" comes from the Middle English word poupon or popen, and it originally meant "fart." The word was based on the sound of a fart. According to Robert Chapman, author of American Slang, "poop" came into use with its current meaning around 1900.

Philosophical Battleground

Note: LJ Ultimate Obsession / Purity Tests, by theferrett.


Philosophical Battleground

Battleground Analysis
Congratulations!

You have been awarded the TPM service medal! This is our third-highest award for outstanding service on the intellectual battleground.

The fact that you progressed through this activity suffering only one direct hit indicates that your beliefs about God are, on the whole, consistent.

However, you have bitten a number of bullets, which suggests that some of your beliefs will be considered strange, incredible, or unpalatable by many people. At the bottom of this page, we have reproduced the analyses of the bitten bullets.

Despite the bullets that you bit, the fact that you did not suffer any hits means that you qualify for our third-highest award. Well done!


How did you do compared to other people?

* 446660 people have completed this activity to date.
* You suffered 1 direct hit and bit 3 bullets.
* This compares with the average player of this activity to date who takes 1.39 hits and bites 1.11 bullets.
* 38.33% of the people who have completed this activity have, like you, been awarded the TPM Service Medal.
* 7.76% of the people who have completed this activity emerged unscathed with the TPM Medal of Honour.
* 45.73% of the people who have completed this activity took very little damage and were awarded the TPM Medal of Distinction.


Direct Hit 1

You answered "False" to Question 7 and "True" to Question 17.

These answers generated the following response:

You've just taken a direct hit! Earlier you said that it is not justifiable to base one's beliefs about the external world on a firm, inner conviction, paying no regard to the external evidence, or lack of it, for the truth or falsity of this conviction, but now you say it's justifiable to believe in God on just these grounds. That's a flagrant contradiction!


Bitten Bullet 1

You answered "False" to questions 6 and 7.

These answers generated the following response:

You're under fire! You don't think that it is justifiable to base one's beliefs about the external world on a firm, inner conviction, paying no regard to the external evidence, or lack of it, for the truth or falsity of this conviction. But in the previous question you rejected evolutionary theory when the vast majority of scientists think both that the evidence points to its truth and that there is no evidence which falsifies it. Of course, many creationists claim that the evidential case for evolution is by no means conclusive. But in doing so, they go against scientific orthodoxy. So you've got to make a choice: (a) Bite the bullet and say there is evidence that evolution is not true, despite what the scientists say. (b) Take a direct hit and say that this is an area where your beliefs are just in contradiction.

You chose to bite the bullet.


Bitten Bullet 2

You answered "True" to questions 4 and 12.

These answers generated the following response:

You claimed earlier that any being which it is right to call God must want there to be as little suffering in the world as possible. But you say that God could make it so that everything now considered sinful becomes morally acceptable and everything that is now considered morally good becomes sinful. What this means is that God could make the reduction of suffering a sin... yet you've said that God must want to reduce suffering. There is a way out of this, but it means biting a bullet. So you've got to make a choice: (a) Bite the bullet and say that it is possible that God wants what is sinful (to reiterate the argument here - she must want to reduce suffering; she could make the reduction of suffering a sin; but if she did so, what she wanted (reducing suffering) would be sinful). (b) Take a direct hit and say that this is an area where your beliefs are just in contradiction.

You chose to bite the bullet.

****************

Bitten Bullet 3

You answered "True" to Question 16.

This answer generated the following response:

You've just bitten a bullet! In saying that God has the freedom and power to do that which is logically impossible (like creating square circles), you are saying that any discussion of God and ultimate reality cannot be constrained by basic principles of rationality. This would seem to make rational discourse about God impossible. If rational discourse about God is impossible, there is nothing rational we can say about God and nothing rational we can say to support our belief or disbelief in God. To reject rational constraints on religious discourse in this fashion requires accepting that religious convictions, including your religious convictions, are beyond any debate or rational discussion. This is to bite a bullet.

Christmas cards and colons

High-scoring words of the day so far:

ZOSTER (288 points) - against Patty M. [two 4W]
CUTAWAYS (525 points) - against Carolyn R. [two 5W] {this was a good word since it handily made up for the points deficit I was suffering}
YEARENDS (102 points) - against Danielle L. [two 2W]
ACTOR (111 points) - against Pat K. [5W, 4L on C, hook off Y to make YA]
DIMPLES (155 points) - against Donna T. [5W, 5L on P]
SAVIOUR (530 points; 4W, two 3W, hook off QAT for a plural), AXED (220 points; 5W, 4L on X) - against Lars E.
FOGBOWS (126 points; 2W, 3W), LIMB (120 points; 3W, 4W) - against Laurie B.
DOWSED (120 points; 5W, 2W), GRAYEST (130 points; 5W, 2W) - against Doug L.
HUTZPA (100 points) - against Kelly T. [two 2W]
BUMP (105 points) - against Karla M. [5W; 3L on B]
DEPUTING (150 points) - against Anastasia W. [5W]
WAST (102 points) - against Sara H. [2W, 5W]
ANGUISH (192 points) - against Nancy S. [4W, two 2W]
TRIFORM (375 points) - against Muriel M. [two 5W]

Interesting racks of the day: CORETTAI (against Pat K. - read that as "Coretta I."), UIANWAIT (against Patty A. - read that as "You, Ian, wait!"), UNWIDGET (against Anastasia W.), FOREHOME (against Nancy S.), TVCONSMD (against Colleen H.), DEVONSAT (against Karla M.)

New records: Six interesting racks, and 17 high-scoring words before 6! (yes, of COURSE this post is undergoing massive edits... hahaha!)


Hey, I got good mail today - money and Christmas cards are SWEET! Received a lovely Russian Christmas card from Katya (katzk) and a Christmas card with a wafer recipe from Kadri (bad_habit) - Sara (thegirlsheriff) says she mailed me something, but I haven't got it yet. This better not be like what Corey was telling me about how his mail to Jane in Taiwan got there before his package to me here, sent at the same time! Made plans with David, too - tomorrow will be sweet, since I know he's joking about a 7:30 AM pickup time. (sounds like Eric in that sense, haha)

Poo nugget for Thursday, January 15: Dr. Stool Says: Get Your Colon Checked! Colonoscopy is a very effective means of preventing colon cancer. Current guidelines recommend a colonoscopy for all individuals over the age of fifty. Those with a family history of colon polyps or cancer often require screening at an earlier age.

Music challenge rankings, stupid names for fish, and a useful Caller ID site

High-scoring words of the night so far:

PASTIME (112 points) - against Matthew F. [4W, 2W]
UNMIX (292 points) - against Maiken H. [4W, hook off RARE to make URARE]


Curtis Sanford is no longer a Canuck, since Roberto Luongo is back and Jason LaBarbara is still doing well. PETA stupidly wants to rename fish to "sea kittens." Sorry, but I'm Chinese, and will continue to eat them! Besides, I'm not wasting the money I just spent on twelve cans of sockeye salmon the other day! (and apparently, Sidekicks are on sale at Safeway for 99 cents each - I haven't had those in YEARS, dude!)

Michelle checked out the Ohio phone number since she got curious, and told me to look up 800 Notes and Call Display - sweet! Despite what Jake thinks, it is a real number and NOT a spoof. Now I'm just having noodles and taking the iLike music challenge since I maxed out on the number of songs I can like with that application: only 2000?! CRIMINAL, DUDE!

There is a ranking system with that music challenge, to be augmented as I come across new levels:

Music Rookie: 0-100 points
Music Novice: 101-200 points
Music Intern: 201-300 points
Music Explorer: 301-500 points
Music Pioneer: 501-1000 points
Music Junkie: 1001-2500 points
Music Expert: 2501-5000 points
Music Genius: 5000-10,000 points

Your Friendship Style is Empathetic

You deeply care about each person you're friends with. For you, friendship is all about the personal connection. You tend to know everything about your friends' lives... and they know everything about yours. Your friends are your confidants. You are always there for your friends. You celebrate their successes and support them in their times of need. You are as loyal as they come. And you expect the same loyalty and understanding from your friends in return. You and another Empathetic Friend: Have a amazing friendship, when it works. You care for each other deeply, but you often end up with hurt feelings and drama. You and a Gregarious Friend: May have a bit of a one sided friendship. You adore your Social Friend, but you sometimes feel a bit neglected. You and an Independent Friend: Struggle a bit. You are very interested in your Independent Friend's life, but your friend often needs more space. You and a Philosophical Friend: Respect one another. You love to learn about your Philosophical Friend's brilliant ideas.

What's Your Friendship Style?

Déjà Poo, AKA Poo Of The Month! / Dream about poisoned apples

Poo nugget for Wednesday, January 14: Déjà Poo, AKA Poo Of The Month! Don't I Know You From Somewhere? A "Déjà Poo" is a bowel movement that has remarkably familiar portions of a recent meal embedded in it. This poo can include a potpourri of colors, often containing pieces of vegetables and other items that look as though they do not belong among the mass of poo in which they are entrenched.

Hmm. Two weird phone calls, one with a numeric coincidence / synchronicity. 1-234-567-8900 (Ohio) and 1-517-931-2223 (Michigan), anyone? I wouldn't believe the Ohio one had I not seen it on my Caller ID, hahaha!

I had a weird dream which started out with my shopping at a department store. While wandering around the store, I thought that the store had bras and clothing for sale, but it turned out that it was downsizing and didn't have those items in stock all the time anymore. I was trying to process that when Pat K. came up to me and offered to pay for my shopping - since that was seemingly very kind, I accepted. Little did I know that he wanted to get me to buy durian pancakes in yellow cardboard packaging! After that, we met Vivian S. / Dylan / Eric M. / Sam / Angus / my mom / other people outside - we all piled into a huge mobile home van, about to go somewhere.

Then Karla M. and Alice P. showed up, wanting us to investigate their clapboard house. Having nothing pressing to do other than go to a blue school with black windows, we went. Turns out they wanted us to read a story about how a boy named John was poisoned by some painted apples - seems his father wasn't alerted to it until he heard his son's death cry in the backyard. He rushed out, only to discover a lifeless John (with a sledgehammer!) lolling in a backyard lounge chair, with a dead huge black man nearby. Of course they pieced together what had happened from that scene: the black man had given John the poisoned apple, and then gotten DEATH VIA SLEDGEHAMMER for his efforts!

After that very amusing diversion, we all piled into the van - Mom insisted on getting us some water first, but then we left her at the place we went to get such libations... oops. Viv wanted to undress in the mobile home van, but we told her to at least do it behind a screen. Later, we went to the school, where we sat on picnic tables and mused about staying out over a few days. We were in Nanaimo, according to a green-and-white sign nearby - eventually, we figured that it didn't matter. Then we started singing songs written on yellow paper that Dylan had brought along for the journey. I couldn't see too much due to the angle at which I was sitting, but could muddle along fine with a certain someone by my side, hehe! That was where the dream ended, too.

Food survey from Bzoink

Completing this survey made me hungry. I might as well finish the spaghetti that I cooked earlier today!

A 65-question "This or That" survey concerning food

Cream cheese or butter?: Butter.
Coffee or tea?: Coffee... even though I get crazy on the stuff!
Provolone or cheddar?: Cheddar.
Chocolate or caramel?: Chocolate.
Strawberries or bananas?: Bananas.
Pineapples or kiwis?: Pineapples.
Juice or soda?: Juice.
Banana splits or sundaes?: Banana splits, only because I don't have them as often.
Cauliflower or broccoli?: Broccoli.
Cucumbers or tomatoes?: Cucumbers.
Brussels sprouts or asparagus?: Brussels sprouts.
Cinnamon or spearmint?: Spearmint.
Gum or breath mints?: Gum.
Spaghetti or lasagna?: Spaghetti... why do you think I bought 4 kg of it yesterday? (other than that I'm a bit tired of macaroni lately...)
Ravioli or tortellini?: Ravioli.
Wheat Thins or Triscuits?: Triscuits.
Mashed potatoes or French fries?: Mashed potatoes.
HoHos or Twinkies?: Twinkies, although I don't eat either very much.
Salt or pepper?: Pepper.
Ketchup or mustard?: Ketchup.
Onion or garlic?: Onion.
Cottage cheese or sour cream?: Sour cream.
Frozen pizza or take-out pizza?: Take-out pizza.
Bean soup or chicken noodle soup?: Chicken noodle soup.
Corn chowder or clam chowder?: Clam chowder.
Sourdough or raisin toast?: Sourdough... I never liked raisin bread for some reason!
Scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs?: Scrambled.
Salsa or chip dip?: Salsa.
Ranch or vinaigrette?: Vinaigrette.
Raspberries or blueberries?: Raspberries.
Apples or peaches?: Peaches.
Coconut or mango?: Mango.
Lemonade or Kool-Aid?: Lemonade.
Beer or wine?: Beer... although wine is good too. Maybe I should take "wine snob" lessons from Dylan, hahaha!
Gatorade or Powerade?: Gatorade.
Water or milk?: Water.
Plain milk or chocolate milk?: Chocolate milk.
2% milk or skim milk?: Skim.
Pancakes or waffles?: Pancakes.
French toast sticks or slices?: French toast slices.
Cheerios or Wheaties?: Cheerios.
Lucky Charms or Count Chocula?: Lucky Charms - all the shapes are cool.
Fruity Pebbles or Cocoa Pebbles?: Cocoa Pebbles.
Frosted Flakes or Corn Flakes?: Plain cornflakes.
Puffed Rice or Puffed Wheat?: Puffed Wheat.
Instant oatmeal or oatmeal from the can?: They have oatmeal in CANS?! I'll take the instant oatmeal instead, thanks.
Fruit and Cream Oatmeal or Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal?: Fruit and cream oatmeal.
Cantaloupe or watermelon?: Watermelon!
Orange juice or apple juice?: Apple juice. (I have both kinds in my fridge right now...)
Grape juice or grapefruit juice?: Grape juice.
Yoplait or Dannon yogurt?: Yoplait, I guess. Never have tried the other.
Macaroni and cheese, or noodles with Alfredo sauce?: Noodles with Alfredo sauce.
Corn on the cob or frozen bagged corn?: Frozen bagged corn.
Caesar salad or house salad?: House salad.
Macaroni salad or potato salad?: Potato salad.
Peanut butter and jelly or meat and cheese sandwich?: Meat and cheese sandwich.
Pears or nectarines?: Nectarines.
Oranges or tangerines?: Oranges.
Butter or margarine?: Margarine.
Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?: Dark chocolate! (I have both kinds right in front of me...)
Banana chips or apple chips?: Banana chips.
Pizza rolls or pizza sandwiches?: Pizza rolls.
Eggplant or cabbage?: Cabbage, most definitely.
Celery or carrots?: Celery.
Bagels or croissants?: Croissants.

Take This Survey | Search Surveys | MySpace Surveys
Survey found on Bzoink

Animal flatulence!

Bingo of the night so far:

SADIRONS (101 points) - against Angela V.


High-scoring words of the night so far:

MEALY (166 points) - against Stephanie P. [5W, 5L on M]
SNARKY (100 points) - against Maiken H. [5W]
FOAMER (156 points) - against Alice P. [3W, 4W]
SADIRONS (101 points) - against Angela V. [bingo; 4W]


I played QIS off my own QIS in a game with Michael M. - yay for quirky coincidences! Talking to Corey about my gingerbread ice cream, how he doesn't care for mint, blasphemy, garbage, GWAR, a Meatmen song title (Tooling For Anus), death threats, hostages in Nakatomi Plaza (Die Hard?!), dinner, catch wrestling, murdering people via sledgehammer, working out, grippers, and more. (also confusing Eric - good times!) Probably will get together with Dave tomorrow too, so that'll be most excellent. :D


Poo nugget for Tuesday, January 13: Fighting Global Warming, One Part at a Time - Some scientists are trying to fight global warming by changing animal flatulence. Emissions from livestock reportedly account for up to half of greenhouse gas emissions in some countries.

You Are "ctrl"

Some people might try to say that you're too controlling. And while there is a controlling aspect to your personalty, you like to think you're competent. You are an expert in many fields. You tend to really know your stuff. You tend to take the reins whenever it's needed. You like to lead, and people like to follow you.

What Keyboard Key Are You?

Of course I'm competent. People like it, too. :D

What Element Mage are you? by ximenes
First Name
Nickname
Elemental Power	Air
Spiritual Companion	Bear
Attitude	Cynical
Eye Color	Silver

What I got for Christmas 2008

What I got for Christmas 2008:

* a Seattle Christmas card from Brandy B. (foreverintheend)
* Christmas card, praline Flake bar, Rowntree's Pick and Mix fruit pastilles, Cadbury Crunchie bar, Barratt Natural Refreshers (fruity flavor fizzy sweets) from Matt K. (jarethshair)
* Christmas card from Samara (mystic_notions)
* Christmas card from Candy (Phoenix)
* Christmas card with A Christmas Carol DVD from Marie (reebee)
* $30 from Grandma
* Christmas card and black notebook from Harmony
* Christmas card from Christon
* Ripley's Believe It Or Not!: Prepare to Be Shocked!, a red stuffed bear, two notebooks, and a Chapters coupon from my parents
* Christmas card and Scrabble tile necklace from Sara (sarasaurusrex)
* homemade Christmas card from Janina (mrshannibal)
* Christmas card from Jennifer (tehgreenfairy)
* Melbourne [Victoria] postcard [Yarra River and city skyline] and stickers from Karine (karineinthepool)
* Christmas card from Jane (gi_janearng)
* Christmas card from Kelli (neonrose5)
* Christmas card from John ()
* Christmas card from Sarah G. (Tonks)Laughing Matters: Learning to Laugh When Life Stinks from Auntie Esther
* a 2009 mini-planner / calendar from Chuck
* Christmas card from Cindy and Dianne
* Christmas card from Vania
* Russian Christmas card from Katya (katzk)
* Christmas card from Kadri (bad_habit)


50 Virtual Gifts:

* Sherrie H.: Nano armband, Chanel sunglasses, Dark Knight DVD
* Natalie H.: a box of chocolates, baby Smurf, Snoopy, Addams Family DVD, a train Christmas cookie, a red-and-pink scarf,
* Julie S.: banana split, purple carnations,
* Brenton L.: Maltese puppy, a "puppy love" animation
* Billie E.: banana split, a ring with a pink rose on it, Vera Wang princess perfume
* Michael B.: James Bond, a star Christmas cookie, a silver cross ornament, a Christmas bell cookie, champagne bottle in ice bucket, an angel with green wings / a purple skirt
* Michael M.: ornament with Santa / a Christmas tree / a snowman
* Pat K.: Frosty the Snowman (complete with top hat)
* George M.: a White Russian, large diva necklace, Snoopy and Woodstock "BIG HUG"
* Gretchen L.: Santa ornament, Santa stocking, a Cosmopolitan (the alcoholic drink)
* Kitty B.: a horse Christmas cookie
* Toussaint F.: a golden angel, Santa with a tree in his workshop
* Sharlene M.: a Christmas tree cookie, fuzzy silver ornament
* Morgana F.: Nano armband, pink dragon toy
* Veronica H.: two red-and-green stockings
* Karla M.: Darling red bag, girl Santa suit
* Ankh S.: blue dragon toy
* Alexander W.: red roses
* Cathy B.: a snowflake ornament, a heart-shaped necklace
* Chuck C.: blue diamonds
* Flora G.: ornament with winter scene
* Danielle L.: champagne bottle in ice bucket (2)
* someone who doesn't show up: a heart-shaped necklace

What I gave for Christmas 2008

What I gave for Christmas 2008

* lots of cards and stuff for my real-life friends!
* Eric H. - Christmas card and Vancouver postcards to remind him of home
* Marie (reebee) - Christmas card
* George and Candy - Christmas card
* Sara H. (sarasaurusrex) - Christmas card and Vancouver postcard
* Karine G. (karineinthepool) - Christmas card and Vancouver postcard
* Angie H. (auralily) - Christmas card and Vancouver postcard
* Shi I. (mypetconcubine) - Christmas card and Vancouver postcard
* Julie S. (julie709) - Christmas card
* Corey T. (dwcorey) - Christmas card
* Janina (mrshannibal) - Christmas card
* Billie E. (sianparis) - Christmas card
* Jennifer L. (tehgreenfairy) - Christmas card
* John (snooooopy) - Christmas card
* Sheryll (sheryll) - Christmas card and Harry Potter bookmark
* Nyssa (giggles_19) - Christmas card and Harry Potter bookmark
* Kadri (bad_habit) - Christmas card
* Mandy (a_phoenixdragon) - Christmas card, plus bonus baby card
* Charlotte (charshark) - Christmas card
* Greg and Jane (GI) - Christmas card
* Y - Christmas card
* Matt K. (jarethshair) - Christmas card

Deep Sky

Coincidences of the night so far: I played XI off Sara K.'s XI - yay for quirkiness! Just as I was about to start clicking on the Doors songs I like with the iLike application, Love Me Two Times came on! Right when I was about to tag that specific tune, too... whoa! The same thing happened with Led Zeppelin and a Jeff Woods show on the band! Chuck also added me on there... maybe my Jack Bauer threat in my friend request message worked, hahaha.


Man, that was an intense two-hour show of 24 - now we have to wait a WEEK?! Sean was being low-level bad and requesting a flight be given top priority (masquerading as his boss Larry), after someone else suspected him of sneaking around and trying to access the FAA database! (not sure I trust the new character, Erika) Then again, Jack was apprised of Tony's real agenda AFTER Tony goaded him with Teri's death / Kim's estrangement / Audrey's catatonic state so he could give Jack a code to let him know he's still with the guerrilla CTU, and met Bill and Chloe again - before this, he went all badass on Tony in the FBI interrogation room. The First Gentleman (whose wife was faced with difficult decisions, courtesy of Ethan) met his son's girlfriend again, and she gave him more information: FCC investigating insider trading, and then the son (Roger) being murdered?!

Col. Dubaku is very much alive, unfortunately. Renee Walker got back into the good graces of her sleazy (to me) boss, and may have unplugged the ventilator of someone she was interrogating, first getting Janice out of the hospital room to stall his lawyers. The Sengala people used French, so I wonder who had to translate those bits for Mom, heh. Jack had to choke Renee out to gain her access because FBI was on a Level 4 lockdown since Chloe had hacked their security in order to give Jack and Tony directions out of the building! Although I did like Jack's "apology" to Tony in the closet while they were in the closet, evading FBI agents swarming all over the building: "Sorry about that." Hahaha!

But then the bad guy Tony was working for (David Emerson) gave him a gun to kill Jack, which indeed was loaded. Good thing Emerson decided to let Jack Bauer live... but of course he would. Otherwise, what would the other 20 hours of this "day" consist of? Besides making decisions about genocide OR American lives, of course! The Secret Service agent probably has a hidden agenda, even as he shadows the First Gentleman on his "off-the-manifest" errand... *Twilight Zone music*

Not having WMD is a significant disappointment?! / Handcuffs survey

High-scoring word of the night so far:

HETAERA (305 points) - against Sara M. [two 5W] {this was a good word since it made up for the points deficit I was suffering!}


HAHAHA! Henrik just emailed a bunch of people, and included a George Bush quote: "Not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment." Oh dear. Made me think of Jeremy, Jen, and a few other people - of course I forwarded it! I've had a Mr. Goodbar, and it was fantastic!


Survey stolen from Chris W.

1. Have you ever been in handcuffs? Nope.

2. What do you think about weed? Stupid.

3. Do you think your current pets will be alive ten years from now? I don't have any pets.

4. Would you cry if you found out you were pregnant? Hmm. I cried when I merely THOUGHT that might happen to me. So if I were DEFINITELY pregnant, I certainly would!

5. What is something you ask for a lot? Lately, it's been help navigating the snow! In general, I try not to ask for much. Makes things easier.

6. Do you lead people on a lot? Definitely not.

7. What's the most appealing thing about the opposite sex? Eyes.

8. Do you have a tan? No.

9. Do you like flowers? Meh, they're okay.

10. Do you know how to knit? Nope.

11. Are you friends with your best friend's boyfriend or girlfriend? Not really.

12. What's your sign? Virgo or Fire Dragon.

13. Do you know the song Total Eclipse of the Heart? Of course! Who doesn't? :P

14. Do you scrapbook? No.

15. What side of the heart do you draw first? Left.

16. You're really upset. Who is the first girl you call to vent to? Karen.

17. What did you do when you woke up this morning? Took a shower.

18. Can you count to ten in more than one language? What language? Yes, in Chinese.

19. Can you swim without plugging your nose? Yup.

20. Do you have any expensive jewelery? I don't think so...

21. Do you ever wonder what your ex is up to? Never.

22. If you were born the opposite sex, what would your parents name you? Still the same name.

23. Do you drool / snore / etc. in your sleep? I've been told I snore, drool, move around, AND fart... oh my!

24. Do you have any bruises? Not that I know of.

25. Do you have a little black dress? Possibly.

26. Have you ever worn a crown? No, unfortunately.

27. Last time you used hand sanitizer? Yesterday! (I'm sure certain people would be horrified to read this, haha.)

28. What is / was your high school's mascot? A marlin!

29. Describe your hair? So dark brown, it looks black.

30. Are you ticklish? Maybe.

31. Who is the last baby that you held? Gabriel!

32. Who has the prettiest eyes that you know of? Clara!

33. Has anyone ever proposed to you? Yes, but I don't think he was serious.

34. When was the last time you tried cutting your own hair? A while ago.

35. Last time you had someone cook for you? Yesterday.

36. Which year has been the best so far? 2001.

37. Why did you withdraw cash from the ATM last time? Had to get money for subs, pizza, and dinner.

38. Are you currently frustrated with a boy or girl? No, thank goodness.

39. Can you sing? Kinda.

40. What color are your toenails usually? Clear.

41. When was the last time you dissected something? What was it? Grade 10, and I think it was a cow eye. Or maybe it was a frog...

42. Are you taller than your best friend? Everyone is taller than me!

43. What's your favorite Disney movie? Hmm... Aladdin, perhaps.

44. What's the last thing someone bought you? Uncle Joe bought us Pho lunch last Sunday!

45. Have you eaten popcorn in the past 48 hours? Nope.

46. If you had to change your eye color, what color would you change them? Dark purple. :D But if we HAVE to talk "normal" colors, then I'd say blue.

47. Who is the last person you added to your contacts list in your phone? Stupid question... assuming everyone has a cell phone. *grumble*

48. Does it matter to you if your boyfriend / girlfriend smokes? Of course it does! Deal-breaker!

49. Does it snow where you live? Unfortunately, yes.

50. Do you prefer to take showers at night or in the morning? At night.

51. If you could change one thing right now, what would it be? I'd make sure certain people were dead. :D

52. Do you like shows like Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries? Yes. If you don't, then there is something WRONG with you! :P

53. Do you wear makeup every day? Yuck... no!

54. Do you go out in public without looking dressed-up or put-together? Sometimes.

55. When was your last bubble bath? Years ago.

56. What are you doing tomorrow? Nothing much.

57. If you could say anything to any one person, what would it be? "I think we should get to know each other better!"

58. Is there anything currently bothering you? Nope!

59. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars? Lord of the Rings.

60. Fly or road trip? Fly!

Buying bulk on-sale stuff is a GOOD financial decision!

High-scoring words of the day so far:

UNEASY (216 points) - against Danielle L. [two 3W]
FECK (256 points) - against Karla M. [two 4W]


I have NO idea why I had the dream I did last night. Suffice to say that it involved people pulling their pants down, bodily examination, Uncle Sam hugging one of us, little kids screaming as they were forced to submit to doctor examinations, and this young girl hugging / cuddling / kissing Jeremy. No, I don't think it was influenced by 24 in any way! ANOTHER TWO HOURS TONIGHT! ACK! (wish I could talk to more people who love the show, haha - this is why someone else I know needs to get his butt in gear and watch it!)

Just before I left to go food shopping, I got something good in the mail - I'll be honest, no worries! Speaking of honesty, I had to borrow a quarter from Customer Service since Barry didn't have one either. I returned it later even though I'm sure they could afford the loss! Now I am stocked to the gills with (mostly) bulk on-sale stuff! This reminds me that David S. may want to go shopping, so I'll shoot him a quick Facebook message. :)

* laundry detergent (first time I've bought it since last July)
* 24 packs of Mr. Noodles Oriental flavor noodles
* peppermint ice cream and gingerbread cookie dough ice cream, both from Island Farms (stock up on the seasonal stuff before it goes away!)
* 12 cans of Gold Seal sockeye salmon, 12 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and a 4kg box of spaghetti (I'll have to break the spaghetti up while cooking it, but it should be good for my pasta creations!)
* Ben and Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie ice cream
* toilet paper, Kleenex, and certain other necessities
* Vector cereal (which always reminds me of Erin's ghetto workplace a few summers ago) [Nathan's had it for a while, and I've always wanted to try the granola cluster crunch stuff!]
* milk, cranberry-raspberry cocktail juice, 100 perogies, 2 kg of frozen veggies, and more!


On another note entirely, I like this amusing graphic that shows up whenever SuperPoke fails to work:




Poo nugget for Monday, January 12: Doo You Know? It floats! Because it tends to contain a lot of undigested wood, beaver poop often floats.

You Attract an Aquarius

When wacky, eccentric, independent Aquarius meet you, they've met their match. You're just as unique and outspoken as any Aquarius, and as a result, they feel instantly connected to you. And while you know you and your Aquarius are meant to be, you always allow for space in your relationship. The last thing your Aquarius wants is to feel fenced in. You know that in this case, absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

What Sign Do You Attract?

Alleged suicides and bad shooters with moles

High-scoring words of the night so far:

SUPRA (290 points) - against Christie M. [4W, 3W, 2W]
IS (4W; hook off SEIZE for a plural), OAT (250 points; two 5W) - against Erin S.
FOAMY (137 points) - against Margaret E. [2W, 4W; hook off GOODS to make AG and YO]


Went to the townhouse just in time to discover my parents going out for dinner and a movie. Mom asked Eric what Australia was about... good thing he can be deadpan in his replies! ("... Australia.") They left with a bunch of advice: James Bond: Quantum of Solace (which they ended up seeing), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Gran Torino. She gave me some more candy, heh... the Hershey's Miniatures that we opened during the show (about 300g left?), 99g of Baskin Robbin's hard mint chocolate chip candies, and 72 pieces of Chiclets fruit-flavored gum. Looked up some things on Facebook, and then looked up Doctor Who on Wikipedia at the guys' request: a 400-hour marathon would consume a LONG time! Helped with some dishes, and listened to Nathan's weird computer music. Had Northern bean soup, butternut squash with cilantro, some cheese (including a creamy Brie-like one), Mistletoe Ale from the Bushwakker (Regina), Le Freak beer, barley wine, chocolate, Asian coleslaw with LOTS of soy sauce and lettuce, and tuna noodle casserole.

We started dinner at around 7:20, welcoming Steph downstairs and Phil / Grace / Christon inside. Discussed previous seasons, Asian coleslaw being a fusion food since people like my grandma never eat raw vegetables, sleep, the bylaw meeting, Grace's Chicago friends liking sweet and sour pork / General Tso's chicken, Fellowship, Steph loving white Chinese food, Viv's experience at Viva Java ("Not Kitty... MAMA!"), coffee Nazis, Steveston Pizza, pizza Nazis (NO SUBSTITUTIONS IN RECIPE ALLOWED!), and other stuff. With ten minutes left to go till showtime, Eric vocalized what I was thinking during the previous time check, and suggested we turn on the muted TV. Then Nathan changed the music on his laptop to "classical music so we can have sophisticated conversation" - we put on snooty accents while talking about Regina beer, and having Danielle and Cordia be "bootleggers" for us when they're in town for Citrus' grad. (Steph had to buy a mini-suitcase just for Jon's booze, haha)

As soon as the show started, we told everyone to shut up. An abduction of an innocent guy, the female president Allison Taylor, her son being an alleged suicide, her husband Henry being "bad" (twisting his son's girlfriend's arm because of offshore account deposits of $400K), and the made-up African country's president being bad. There was also Tony Almeida (who used to be Jack's best friend) coming back from the dead and siding with the terrorists, the FBI (which was compromised) not being as good as CTU, Jack Bauer getting questioned in front of the Senate, a near-miss of two planes at JFK, the terrorists mimicking air traffic control, FBI agent Renee Walker lying to Larry Moss, Jack detecting a fake FBI agent (really the shooter of the guy they were interrogating at the time) by his SHOES alone, and more! During the commercial breaks, Steph was washing five dishes at a time as part of de-stressing... good thing they were relatively long for these two hours! Saw commercials for various upcoming movies, too.

By the time my parents got back to say that there were several sold-out movies (LOTS of people at the theatre on a random Sunday night?!), we had pretty much cleaned up and were all clustered around the computer while Nathan looked up hockey pool stats. Steph was surprised that Golden was kicking the veterans' butts, heh. She also said that she wouldn't answer any of Mom's questions about the premiere until Mom had seen the whole two-hour premiere WITHOUT fast-forwarding through everything she didn't want to see. Nathan and Eric looked up the Golden Globes winners, and discussed a movie where monogamy was NOT the way for a couple to co-exist peacefully: Vicky Cristina Barcelona seems interesting. Kate Winslet won for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress - oh my!

We all corrected Nathan when he said we'd have to wait till next week for more: TOMORROW! After these four hours, we'll be suffering withdrawal - what Steph told Jeremy is very true! Since Eric is staying home tomorrow, I should too. Thank goodness, really... I need time to decompress! (the only thing I gotta do tomorrow is grocery shopping, which is sorely needed) Discussed BLADE RUNNER / BATTLESTAR GALACTICA / ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on the way home with Eric, Jeremy, and Nathan. Iconic movie I watched last night, heh. (Jon says I should watch FIREFLY so I can say I've seen something with an actress named Summer in it - hahaha, sounds like JUST my rationale!)

Steph, summing up tonight: "So all we have to do to get my parents to go out is invite a whole bunch of people over?! We should do that more often, so they can rekindle the romance in their marriage! It was so good to see everyone!"

You Are a Hat With Flaps

You are fun-loving, cheerful, and even pretty cute most of the time. You use fashion to play. You never take style all that seriously. You're the type most likely to wear a funny T-shirt or goofy hat. But when it comes time to clean up, you clean up nicely.

What Winter Hat Are You?

Tiny oranges and rides home for downtime ROCK!

High-scoring words of the day so far:

HEISTER (1250 points) - against Danielle L. [two 2W, two 5W]
UPTOWNS (120 points) - against Raymond C. [2W, 4W]


Not too much to tell about today at church, though I did get to talk to Raymond about stuff like Fellowship. (Mom didn't like BLADE RUNNER since it was too sadistic, heh) We thought the worship team starting was just a practice, haha. Noted various grammar and spelling errors in the Powerpoint, as well. Spent time with baby Mattias, and talked to Jen and Karen about how generous Nathan's dad is: when Isabel was living there, he didn't charge her any rent! Vania offered me a tiny orange, so I took it - I didn't mind sharing Jeremy's napkin for our peels, haha. Discussed school, wasting money, Winter Conference, my blue beret (he likes it), Hong Kong, and other things with Sonny. Nate says moving will be a big pain in the butt, especially since they're both particular about their stuff. Said hi to Winnie, Tony, Tim, Joshua, Keenan, Lee, Lily, Hannah, Gavin, and Megan. Talked for a bit to Jeremy about pressed sage, carrots, cheese, and cilantro... I also convinced Eric to give me a ride home. Nathan debated skipping either Sunday School or the bylaw meeting: since there's no quorum required for the bylaw meeting, he chose to give that a miss. Then Jon and I talked to him about guilting people into doing things, even after they refused: that's SO ASIAN!

Said hi to Uncle Sam and Auntie Susanna, and had no kids today in Sunday School. Spent the time talking to Auntie Fonda about her work, fitting into a wedding dress, Auntie Catherine's eye operation, babies, Facebook, lots of weddings this summer, kids' parents, how tired she was from getting up at 4 AM since she couldn't sleep, and more. After making sure I wouldn't fall and helping me down the sidewalk, Eric inserted various gaming references on the way home, and kinda confirmed for tomorrow night, too. ("Christon has violated THE TREATY - what race are you? You're too tall and NOT green enough to be a goblin - you could be a dwarf, or maybe a gnome. KALDOREI! Maybe you're a troll or orc?!") Not a bad day, though - I have to take the bus later since Nate's car is full, and it should be fine if I leave EARLY. If I miss it, I get to wait an hour: JOY! (but how am I supposed to get home later?!) At least I have some downtime between church and the dinner!

Butterflies and drifting away...

Survey stolen from Sarah G. via Facebook - yay for Tonks!

1. Will you talk to the person you like on the phone tonight? HA. Not bloody likely! Especially since I don't have his phone number - I should remedy that, hehe.

2. Ever had a near-death experience? Not really.

3. Where's your cell phone? Non-existent.

4. What is the last thing you thought about? Um... how to answer this question.

5. Do you regret anything? Maybe a few things.

6. If you found out you were pregnant, who would you tell? Whoever got me in that sad state, and then my close friends so we could figure out what to do.

7. What are you going to do this weekend? Mid-weekend, so will watch 24 (after church) and have interesting food for dinner, says my brother.

8. When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends? Last week.

9. Do you prefer revenge or just pure jealousy / envy? Revenge, baby.

10. Who would you like your next "fling" to be with? What a stupid question.

11. Would you curse in front of your parents? No!

12. What kind of camera do you have? An invisible one.

13. Would you rather go to a party or out of town? Depends... maybe a party.

14. Are you slowly drifting away from someone close? Perhaps.

15. When was the last time you held someone's hand? Too long ago.

16. Who can you tell everything to? Nobody! YAY!

17. Can you play Guitar Hero? Not really - I prefer watching.

18. Is any part of your body sore? Not right now.

19. Missing someone right now? Nope.

20. Is there someone on your mind that shouldn't be? Not really.

21. Do you like your phone? Meh, it gets the job done.

22. Last alcoholic beverage? Beer of some sort at Nathan's for New Year's.

23. Have any of your best friends ever backstabbed you? Yes... and that sucks!

24. If you had to move in with a friend, which one would you pick? Hmm... I really don't know.

25. What's the seventh text message in your inbox say? N/A.

26. When is your next road trip? No idea.

27. What did you do over the weekend? Considering it is currently mid-weekend, I watched movies / had Awana / had Panago pizza.

28. Met anyone new in the past week? Scott, Alicia, and Erica.

29. What does your best friend call you? "Les."

30. Are you currently fighting with someone? Nope, which is an excellent thing. :D

31. Last time you had butterflies in your stomach? In 2007, sometime...

32. Who / What would you like to see right now? No comment.

33. Are you mad at someone right now? No.

34. What does the nicest text in your inbox say? N/A.

35. Do you mainly use your house phone or your cell phone? HOUSE PHONE.

36. Is there an empty place in your heart? Nope.

37. Do you count down the days till anything? Not really.

38. Are you looking forward to something as of right now? Maybe... but that would be telling. ;)

39. Have you ever been called a tease? Not in any serious way.

40. What are your chances of getting with your crush? HA. NOT GOOD.

41. What is the farthest you've traveled with a friend? Hmm... San Francisco!

42. Anyone told you a secret this week? Not that I know of.

43. Do you ever turn your cell phone off? If I had one, I wouldn't.

44. Do you hate anyone? Maybe. ;)

45. Last time you wore the opposite sex's clothing? In August, I do believe. I should have gotten Eric to take a picture!

46. What do you want in your life right now? I have it - stability and tranquility. Although someone to SHARE this with would be nice, too... just saying. ;)

47. When was the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to cry? AGES AGO!

48. Did you tell someone something today? What a stupid question. Of course I did. But what it was... is NONE of your business!

49. Do you trust people easily? Sometimes, yes.

50. What were you doing at 9 PM Friday night? Talking to Kevin, Cindy, Vanessa, and Johnny in Bible Study about stuff.

BLADE RUNNER and HORRIBLE BLOGS

Department of Redundancy Department - a quirky link I stumbled across!

Eric said things were an accident earlier, so I don't think it's a big deal. I went outside soon after that last post, and found Kaili in the car - she said Teunis had gone to the hospital's pay phone to call me since the management doesn't have the buzzer list up anymore. So on her suggestion, I began walking toward the building: good thing I spotted him halfway. Then he told me that they'd been driving with no windshield wipers from Surrey to Richmond... good thing they got it fixed before they came to my place! Spent the ride discussing Chinese Time and other adaptations of it, especially since we were about half an hour late as it was. There was also the thing where Kaili had been hallucinating STARGATE characters and such last week since she got really sick, and thought she was going to DIE! Got to Erik's, and used the dog assertiveness skills I learned in Chilliwack since the dog Lucy was at the door when he let us in. Met some woman named Erica, some dude named Scott in an In Flames T-shirt who looked as if he would crush me if I looked at him the wrong way, his girlfriend / wife (named Alicia - she was kinda sick and even brought her own Kleenex), and saw Kyle / Lindsay again.

They were watching an OLD Batman serial from the 1930s or 1940s, so that was the fare until we got hungry. Ordered five different kinds of pizza and MUG root beer (reminds me of long-ago BP orders) from Panago, then started BLADE RUNNER - Replicants, "retiring" meaning "extinction," termination dates, arousal of feelings, and bloody death via eyeball-gouging was quite the fare to prep me for another season of 24, haha. (and so did Kyle's CTU ringtone!) Teunis told the girls not to look, but I took it all in - I'm MORBID AND TWISTED! Some people were talking over the movie, which I found kind of annoying even if we DID have the subtitle option on! Was an interesting movie, however. (we broke for eating pizza and randomly talking to Krista on the phone: apparently, my dragon poster is at a condo somewhere!)

After that, someone brought up watching something called DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG; I wanted to demur on the grounds that I had church in eight hours or so. Of course, this is when I thought the DVD time was really almost midnight (it was an hour out, in reality) - I could have demurred since Alicia also did on the grounds of work, but thank goodness it was only 45 minutes long! Quite quirky and musical: I liked the harmonies of the concurrent music! Death rays, laundromat girls, throwing people in the garbage, the Evil League of Evil, and more - oh my. Lindsay actually said "L O L" out loud in conversation until people told her to shush... ah well.

Talked for a little bit after the movie, and re-discovered how close Erik's is to the townhouse! I was extremely passionate when talking about Jack Bauer, haha! Then again, I also got rather vocal when Kaili was saying that Christians were hard to buy gifts for! (discussed pagan jokes and such too...) Teunis was almost snowed-in since there WERE big flakes of snow in Surrey this afternoon, not to mention the accumulated snow from the past month! (and maybe if they bug me enough, I'll show up for FIREFLY...) Now Corey's telling me about the latest on Britney Spears: "Her dad is in charge of her money and her life, by law. She's not allowed to go out, and she's not allowed to spend her own money :P As of not real long ago, she'd go out and drive her car around her neighborhood because that's all she was allowed to do or she'd get in trouble. :P And this is a grown woman with two kids..."